New Downtown Landmark: Skyscraper, Food Hall, and Museum
The “Great Steps” lead to the food hall at the new Bank of America Tower. Photo by Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report
HOUSTON – Bank of America Tower, the newest skyscraper in downtown Houston, will feature rotating public art along its Milam Art Wall in partnership with Sawyer Yards, the 55-acre creative campus near The Heights.
The 35-story tower at 800 Capitol St. opens in June, according to developer Skanska. The 754,000-square-foot building includes a striking silvery façade and a 35,000-square-foot below-grade food hall and amenity venue called Understory, which also houses a fitness center.
“Our partnership with Sawyer Yards underscores Skanska’s commitment to reimagining Houston’s tunnel experience downtown. We are creating an engaging community destination that will reinvent the tunnel network in a way not seen before in its near 90-year history,” said Matt Damborsky, executive vice president for Skanska USA Commercial Development in Houston. “Houston’s world-class art scene is rising to the same prominence as our globally renowned culinary scene. That convergence of art and food will come together at Understory. Showcasing work by artists from this vibrant local community will complement Understory’s distinctive flavors with an equally compelling visual experience.”
Curated by Sawyer Yards creative director Grace Zuñiga, the inaugural installation, titled Natural Abstraction, will present work by eight women artists. The exhibition—featuring paintings, ceramics and a mural—explores human relationships with natural environments and deepens the idea of “home.” Participating Sawyer Yards artists include Celan Bouillet, Luisa Duarte, Leslie Gaworecki, Hedwige Jacobs, Ami Mehta and Falon Mihalic, along with Houston-based ceramist Jessica Phillips and muralist Jessica Rice.
“This concentration of artists, creating dynamic and inspiring work to share with the public, is what makes Sawyer Yards the creative heart of Houston,” said Steve Gibson, one of Sawyer Yards’ developers. “We are pleased to collaborate with Skanska to bring our neighborhood’s artistic energy to the downtown community and to have our artists contribute to this high-energy destination.”
The exhibition will be on view from June 1 through Dec. 30, 2019. The Milam Art Wall—a 100-foot glass façade along Milam Street—will feature new Sawyer Yards–curated installations every six months, with themes that change for each cycle.
Designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, Understory is accessed via the “Great Steps,” a 30-foot-wide monumental staircase and public gathering space that creates a prominent street-level gateway to Houston’s tunnel network.
